The Florida Constitution Podcast

The Florida Constitution Podcast is a new podcast history project produced by Robert Cassanello, Holly Baker and I in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1968 Florida constitution. As is the case with many issues in Florida, the constitution reflects the state's complex history. Robert Cassanello suggested the possibility of bringing notable experts on the different Florida constitutions into dialogue. Working with the Florida Conference of Historians, we were able to organize a plenary session featuring experts on the six major constitutions in the state's history. This podcast grows from that timely conversation. What can looking back at the constitutional history of the third largest state tell us about the contemporary landscape? As I reflect on the project, I believe revisiting this history highlights how each period of constitutional transformation was driven by questions of citizenship that resonate with current struggles in the United States. Each of Florida's constitutions represented a struggle in the public sphere shaped by questions identity, power, and justice. These are conversations worth considering as we face the challenge of our current political landscape.